Chapter 107: Bethlehem
Caesar could see the group of people coming to greet him, and of course they could also see Caesar.
The first thing to leap into Bishop Andrew’s field of vision was a crimson flag. Against the backdrop of yellow sand and the sky, it was so vivid, scorching, and dazzling. This color couldn’t help but make Lord Bishop feel troubled—when he heard that His Majesty the King had enfeoffed Bethlehem to a young knight, he had already made many plans.
If the other party was a greedy man—of course, for him, this was almost the best outcome. Filling the money chests had always been a simple matter—just increase taxes. The residents of this city had long been accustomed to submitting to their fate, and the pilgrims who had traveled long distances to get here wouldn’t care about those external possessions. As for those heathens, being allowed to enter this city was already God’s benevolence.
What if he was a lustful man? Bishop Andrew of course had ways to deal with him. He knew several slave merchants who served the Christian kings, the Arab Caliph, and the Sultan at the same time. No matter what you wanted, they had it.
White skin, black skin, brown skin; tender new buds, blooming flower buds, and sweet fruits; even boys, which the Church sternly condemned, were available. Anyway, once they were by the new master’s side, they were nominally just servants and attendants. As long as the knight didn’t go too far, no one would interfere.
What was Sir Bishop most worried about? Of course, it was the common ailment that almost every young man had—the desire for power and its abuse.
Especially since he had heard that the new master of Bethlehem did not come from a prominent background, and people who had once been lowly, once they grasped power, would eagerly use it in a way that drained the pond to catch the fish, as if if they didn’t use it now, it would disappear as quickly as foam on the sea.
They had no experience, no one to guide them, but had many strange ideas and arrogant notions that needed to be swiftly and thoroughly followed and implemented—these people acted recklessly without careful planning or repeated weighing. Anyway, they had no blood relatives or in-laws to consider, so they would act outrageously until the King or someone else could no longer tolerate it and decided to chop off their heads.
But before that, most of them had already caused great losses.
Bethlehem was a golden fruit. Bishop Andrew had managed this city for several years now, and he did not want his hard work to be destroyed in one night. As the Knight of Bethlehem’s procession gradually approached, Sir Bishop felt even more uneasy in his heart—because he saw that on the crimson flag, there were no common patterns like city walls, long swords, spears, and crosses, only in the center-left position, embroidered with golden silk thread, an Ayyarasa Road cross.
The coat of arms of the King of Ayyarasa Road was a huge yellow Ayyarasa Road cross drawn on a white shield. This golden Ayyarasa Road cross, though much smaller than the King’s, could not appear here without the new king’s charter—this was almost saying that the new king was willing to transfer part of his power and prestige to this attendant.
And as people knew, although the knight had been granted territory, he was not the owner of this land; he could only say that he could obtain the assets he needed from this land—this was also why the kings and lords of the Holy Land could easily implement “money fiefs.” Even without real territory, knights could still obtain money to meet their living needs and acquire armor, horses, and weapons.
And even if they had it, knights had no right to trade or transfer this land, and if he could not fulfill his duties, the lord could still reclaim this fief.
So most knights did not care much about what produce the territory had, what laws there were, how many fields, how many forests, how many mills and rivers? Such troublesome matters were generally left to the priests, stewards, or even a merchant by their side; as long as they could produce money when he needed it, that was fine.
But the special thing about Bethlehem was that the Knight of Bethlehem’s superior was not a Baron or Count, but directly subordinate to the King of Ayyarasa Road. If Baldwin was willing to let Caesar exercise his power, Caesar would become the true master of Bethlehem.
Caesar did not know how Bishop Andrew’s emotions were surging at this moment. He dismounted a hundred feet from the Bishop. As a knight, he should kneel before Bishop Andrew and kiss the ring on his hand, but Bishop Andrew hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and raised his hand, so Caesar only needed to bend slightly to complete this kiss-hand ritual.
“You are truly tall,” Bishop Andrew said sincerely when Caesar straightened up. “I seem to see King David in his youth.”
“There are knights as strong as me as numerous as the stars.” Caesar did not accept this praise. “It’s just that they each have duties and cannot come to your Bethlehem.”
“This city belongs to Jesus Christ.” Bishop Andrew said immediately, then he smiled and stepped back, letting the students by his side bring a silver platter about three feet in diameter, on which lay a bronze key.
“Now I hand this city over to you,” the Bishop said straightforwardly. “You must treat it well, for it is so fragile and so beautiful.” “I have already seen it,” Caesar said. He had seen many huge and magnificent cities. And Bethlehem was indeed as the Bishop said, like a miniature model that made one feel pity at first sight.
And the most eye-catching building in this city was of course the Church of the Nativity, though it was more like a military fortress—Caesar thought as he arduously squeezed through that small door only four feet high under Bishop Andrew’s warm invitation.
Of course, according to the Church, this door was not made so small simply to resist enemies; it had an alias called the Door of Humility, meaning that no matter how noble the pilgrim, when he came here, he had to bend his waist, lower his head, and carefully pass through it sideways.
The place of Jesus’ birth was not on the ground, but underground, in a cave about fifty feet long and ten feet wide, originally just the stable of an innkeeper in Bethlehem.
Bishop Andrew held a candle in front, leading them to the manger where Jesus Christ had been placed. It was covered with layers of purple and golden silk, shimmering with pearly light and rippling in the candlelight, but no matter how precious, they could not compare to that manger made of gray mortar and clay.
The Bishop gently placed his finger on it, then withdrew it. “You may touch it.”
They took turns touching it. Someone cried excitedly and said he saw the Virgin Mary holding the Holy Child sitting in the manger, Saint Joseph kneeling beside them, looking at them with eyes of love and reverence, and three magi clad in splendid outer garments prostrating on the ground, offering gold, myrrh, and frankincense to the Holy Child.
Caesar saw nothing, but he could observe others’ reactions. He found that knights who had once received blessings, such as Longinus, had expressions of astonishment or confusion, while ordinary people almost did not; if they did, it was feigned.
“This place is as holy as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” Bishop Andrew said proudly as he led them out. “Not a single child who undergoes the Choosing ceremony here has failed.”
It was also because of Jesus Christ’s death, representing that he had redeemed the sins of the people of the world—thus His “death” outweighed His “birth.” Otherwise, Bishop Andrew would prefer to call this the holiest of the holiest places.
Afterward, their group stayed in the Church of the Nativity, attended the next day’s Mass and prayer, and received the Eucharist. This was almost a mandatory process; no one could bear the charge of insufficient piety.
On the third day, Bishop Andrew brought the histories and records of Bethlehem—population, shops, workshops, and craftsmen, etc.
The captain of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre here came to visit Caesar, but he was quite polite yet distant toward Caesar. They had not participated in the previous expedition and were not very clear about Caesar’s or even Baldwin’s strength. Just as Caesar’s initial asceticism was thought to be intentional posturing, they also doubted that these two young men’s merits in the expedition had false elements, either stolen from others or fabricated and exaggerated.
Caesar did not feel anxious about this.
One of the greatest responsibilities of a knight toward his fief was to ensure the peace of the city and villages, especially Bethlehem—pilgrims came incessantly, no less than on Ayyarasa Road. Countless people wanted to intercept a cup or more from this flowing river of gold; they could be Turks, Saracens, or even Christians.
Caesar had long decided that before leaving Bethlehem and returning to Ayyarasa Road, he would clear away all the filth here—that is, in the words of people at this time, to ensure that a woman carrying a child could walk from east to west, from south to north, and always remain safe and sound.
This might be somewhat difficult to do, but it should not be a big problem.
Afterward, he looked at the accounts of tax revenue and spoils of war. Sir Bishop Andrew might have fiddled with some minor tricks, but roughly speaking, there were no major loopholes.
After all, the Bishop had originally been a member of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. He had taken an oath not to retain any private property, and he still adhered to this oath. Even if there was misappropriation, it was misappropriated to the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Bethlehem. Even if given to Baldwin, Baldwin would not reproach him too much.
He, Caesar, gently set down these scrolls. His material desires were similarly not so strong; these were not what he cared about most.
He wanted more to understand the administrative management and judicial situation of this city.
The laws of this period were very chaotic, with canon law and customary law; a lord could also have his own laws, contracts, and most importantly, private courts.
If Baldwin came here and wanted to establish a royal court, Bishop Andrew had no way to oppose it. But as a knight, Caesar did not have this power.
But if he had the king’s charter, it would be different.
Bishop Andrew felt a headache; the thing he was most worried about had finally happened. If the other party just judged according to his own moods and preferences, haphazardly, that would be fine.
What he worried about was that to establish his status in Bethlehem, this young man would make extremely absurd and ridiculous judgments, and this judgment was very likely to be adopted as customary law. He could of course oppose it, but that would be giving the young knight a slap in the face.
If he felt humiliated, he might double down and oppose him, completely contrary to Bishop Andrew’s intentions.
He had no choice but to bring those case files for Caesar to see, saying from the bottom of his heart that even Bishop Andrew had no right to try major cases of treason or riots. These cases mostly involved only disputes over property or honor.
Bishop Andrew’s method for determining innocence or guilt was also very simple: divine judgment.
Of these more than a hundred case files, one-third of the people accepted the boiling water test, one-third accepted the cold water test, and a few accepted the hot iron test.
These people first had to attend Mass together with their accusers or those they accused, and receive the Eucharist. If they showed no signs of being possessed by the devil—such as fearing the church, being burned by holy water, or unable to recite scripture, and other strange signs—they could then undergo judgment.
The boiling water test, as the name implies, involved putting one’s hand into boiling water or hot oil. If their hand did not heal within the stipulated time, they were guilty.
The cold water test involved binding the person undergoing judgment—usually the right hand and left foot—and then throwing them into the river. If they sank, they were innocent. If they floated, it meant Jesus Christ had rejected them, and they were guilty.
The hot iron test was even simpler. After all, the one Caesar was most familiar with was the test his teacher had once told them about—when the Crusaders attacked the Holy Land, they unfortunately encountered a terrible predicament. At that time, a priest claimed to have found the holy spear that had once pierced Jesus Christ’s body. This discovery greatly boosted morale and turned the tide of the war.
But this Sir Priest did not get a good outcome. Soon after, someone questioned the authenticity of the holy spear and demanded divine judgment, that is, hot iron judgment. He had to carry the holy spear he claimed to have found and walk over a fire pile. As a result, he was burned, suffered very severe burns, lay in bed groaning for a full ten days or so, and painfully died.
He and his holy spear became the sinner and the evidence of sin, which also led to the failure of this campaign.
However, in Bethlehem, most of those who underwent judgment were pardoned. Caesar guessed they were probably also one of Bishop Andrew’s sources of income.
“If you are willing, next Wednesday is court day,” Bishop Andrew said in a tone like coaxing a child. “You can sit with me and exercise this power.”
“Can I know what kind of cases they are?”
“They are all within your power,” Bishop Andrew explained, indicating he had no intention of scheming against Caesar. “We are to judge a dog, a group of insects, and a man and a woman.”
